1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an image forming apparatus having an improved paper feeding structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus is designed to form an image on a printing medium based on an input image signal. Examples of image forming apparatuses include printers, copiers, fax machines, and devices combining functions thereof. Hereinafter, print media is referred to as ‘paper’ for convenience, but is not limited to general paper.
An image forming apparatus contains a paper feeding device to feed paper to a printing device provided therein. Paper accommodated in the paper feeding device is picked up by a pickup unit and is delivered to the printing device along a predetermined path.
The pickup unit normally picks up a sheet of paper with one operation thereof, but two or more sheets of paper may be picked up. If two or more sheets of paper are picked up and delivered to the printing device, print defects or jam may occur.
To prevent the above-described print defects or jam, a separating unit is generally employed. The separating unit is arranged to face the pickup unit so as to press paper against the pickup unit. If the pickup unit picks up two or more sheets of paper, the separating unit separates the two or more sheets of paper into individual sheets, allowing only one sheet of paper to be delivered to the printing device.
In this case, the paper not delivered to the printing device (hereinafter, referred to as residual paper) may be jammed between the separating unit and the pickup unit rather than being delivered backward to a paper feeding cassette. The paper feeding cassette is coupled to a main body of the image forming apparatus and is separable from the main body, e.g., when adding paper. If a user attempts to reinstall the paper feeding cassette into the main body after supplying paper into the paper feeding cassette in a state in which the user does not recognize the paper jam, the residual paper may be crumpled by the paper feeding device, causing the paper feeding cassette to be imperfectly coupled to the main body, or resulting in print defects.
In addition, even if the user recognizes the presence of the residual paper and attempts to remove the residual paper, easy removal of the paper may be difficult due to contact pressure between the separating unit and the pickup unit, and the separating unit or the pickup unit may be damaged if the paper is forcibly removed.